


Is that vibranium in your pants?

by assassi



Category: Black Panther (2018), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 12:01:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14135634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/assassi/pseuds/assassi
Summary: An unexpected friendship blossoms into an even more unexpected love.





	Is that vibranium in your pants?

**Author's Note:**

> So, that should have been a short humorous fic, based on that line in the title :) It turned out a little deeper but hopefully not overly dramatic ;) Hope you enjoy!

It was a beautiful morning in Wakanda. The sun was already high in the sky and city below was bustling with life. But it was peaceful here, in the medical wing, and only the birds’ calls and the sound of children laughing somewhere in the distance disturbed the utter silence.

King T’challa watched as the cryo-capsule’s front panel closed silently, hiding and preserving one James Barnes. It would take some time to heal his mind, the king knew, but there was nothing else they could do without further harming the man who had already suffered enough as it was.

The situation was handled in the best possible way. Yet the king felt like there was still something missing.

  
*

  
Tony Stark strolled into his office with the air of utter annoyance only a board meeting could induce. He could be anywhere else at that moment: in his workshop, doing something productive; in bed doing something fun (What? He and Pepper had broken up but he was a man and he had needs!); in Hawaii or Bali or some nice beachy place. Not Tahiti, because Agent (or was it Director now?) still flinched when someone mentioned it so it couldn’t have been nice…

He took a few more steps into the room then stopped, finding his chair already occupied. They shared a look: one calculating, the other calm and evaluating. Tony tsk-ed.

“I love cats but we have a strict no-pets-allowed policy.”

T’challa’s lips twitched in a way that suggested he was trying to suppress a smile.

“I am not here as the Black Panther”, he said.

“Why are you here?”, Tony asked.

The king’s smile faded somewhat. Those eyes were still an unreadable mask when he said evenly,

“James Barnes is under my care. In a safe location.”

“Wakanda”, Tony guessed.

T’challa didn’t confirm. He didn’t deny either.

“Why are you telling me all this?”, Tony asked. “Why did you help him, why didn’t you let me…”

The king stood up slowly.

“You are a good man, Tony Stark. But you must not let your emotions control you so easily.”

“Wait! I know what you’re going to do, you’re about to disappear dramatically with that flimsy little speech you just…”

“Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts would like to…”, his assistant called via FRIDAY.

“I’ll call her later!”, Tony snapped, ending the call and turning to T’challa. “Why did you come? Tell me!”

The king lifted an eyebrow. “I am not used to taking orders, Mr. Stark.”

Tony’s whole self deflated. His body slumped and it looked like all the fight had suddenly left him. He looked tired, bone tired and just barely maintaining the flashy façade.

“Just. Tell me why you’re here. Please.”

T’challa’s face softened. This was why he had come. He had to check up on America’s pathologically misunderstood genius.

“I wanted to make sure you are okay.”

Tony snorted bitterly. “Am I?”

“No. But you will be.”

“Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts is getting…”

“I said I’ll call her back!”, he yelled, turning towards the door where his stunned assistant now stood. She nodded curtly and left the room quietly. Were her eyes shining with tears?

  
Fuck. He always fucked things up. He had to apologize, it wasn’t her fault that his life was a mess right now.

Even as he was turning back around he knew he would be alone in his office. The Black Panther was gone. There was an intricately carved bottle on his desk. And a note.

_Because I know what it is like to lose someone._

__  
*  
The bottle was full of sweet smelling herbal concoction. An e-mail from dorkking@thepalace.wk informed him it was supposed to help him sleep without leading to (another) addiction. A week later when his body was about to give out but the sweet oblivion of sleep still evaded him Tony gave in and took some. He slept like a baby through the whole night.

  
* 

From iamironman@starkindustries.com : Thank you. I hadn’t slept for so long in years. What did you say you put in that? Also, dorkking? :)

From dorkking@thepalace.wk : You are welcome. I didn’t say. My baby sister created that e-mail. Obviously.

From iamironman@starkindustries.com : Obviously. I want to meet her.

P.S. I cannot believe we are communicating through mails where there’s the 21 century’s wonder called a mobile. Heard of it?

From dorkking@thepalace.wk : I am old-fashioned.

“Or just stubborn”, Tony muttered. He could easily find out T’challa’s phone number. But that would kill the… whatever they had.

* 

His next mail from the Dork King was a simple recipe of all things. Because, “cheeseburgers are not actual food and you need something healthy.”

*   
Life went on as usual. He worked and worked and when his body needed to reboot he drank the potion. He didn’t dare think what he’d do when it was over.

He worked on Rhodey’s rehab program. His friend was a typical soldier – never giving up, still sticking to a strict military diet and still trying to work out as best as he could. It reminded him painfully of another soldier, one who he’d also considered a friend and who’d left a huge gaping hole in Tony’s life when he left. There was a little ache for every one of them and every single one hurt differently somehow. Like old wounds that never really healed right. Every time he got to that point of reminiscing about his lost family, the only one he’d had in a while, he shook his head and focused on his last remaining brother who needed him.

That’s how, lost in his work on Rhodey’s rehab, he once fell asleep without taking T’challa’s potion. Which turned out to be a big mistake – he woke up shivering, haunted by nightmares he had naively believed were forgotten.

He went rummaging into the kitchen, hoping to shake off the dark visions faster. It was closer to noon, since he never kept normal working and sleeping hours so decided he might as well eat something. He wondered idly what to choose from the fridge when something flashed in his mind, a memory of a subtly caring e-mail. Smiling to himself he fixed the salad by T’challa’s recipe and even took a picture to send with his next e-mail.

* 

His phone rang loudly in the suddenly quiet workshop – FRIDAY had stopped the music to make it possible for Tony to hear the devise and answer.

“Hello?”, he grumbled from under his Viper, a side project to cool his head.

“…Her name is Shuri. My sister. She claims I am being unnecessary stubborn by sticking to e-mails.”

Tony felt his face relaxing into a smile as he crawled out from under the car.

“Yeah? She sounds like a smart girl.”

Was that a snort? T’challa sounded truly amused when he answered, “You have no idea. Actually”, and just like that he was serious again; it was his king voice, full of power and authority, “that is part of why I call. She created something that might help your friend. I will send it with my next mail.”

“Mail again”, Tony noted, smiling slightly.

“I meant a delivery. She… khem. She might have made something. Solid. Except the ideas.”

“How old is she?”

“Fourteen.”

Tony’s brows lifted in surprise. His silence must have spoken for itself because T’challa’s voice was once again amused when he said, “Indeed.”

“Now I really need to meet her.”

“We shall see. Have a nice day, Mr. Stark.”

“Tony. Please.”

There was a pause. Then,

“I received that picture. I am glad you are eating healthy. Take care… Tony.”

* 

Shuri’s message was short and urgent: HQ, now!

He went in full battle mode. The suit would protect him from anything, would protect them all, must protect Shuri, Mother, Okaye, Wakanda. Wakanda, Shuri, Mother, Okaye? All of them, in any order.

“Your Majesty, there’s an unidentified object flying straight towards the border!”, Okaye informed him.

“Shall I, brother?”, Shuri asked, finger poised over an innocent looking button. But T’challa knew the power it could unleash.

“Wait.”

“My king, it will breach the barrier in 4…3…2…1”, Okaye’s voice suddenly faded.

“Do we have a visual already?”, he demanded.

“It’s too small to be a plane. Yes, we have a good visual already, the target is…”

“Do not shoot!”

“Brother?”, Shuri asked, confused.

But he had already recognized the red-and-gold blur flying straight towards the palace. He smiled and dropped the defense, turning around and hurrying to the landing site.  
By the time he got there the suit was just unfolding around Tony, leaving a rumpled looking engineer behind. Tony’s jeans were torn and his Black Sabbath T-shirt had seen better days. His usually styled hair was a mess. But he was still Tony Stark, self-confident no matter how he looked. He flashed a cocky grin.

“Your Dorkiness”, he drawled, going even further and bowing a little.

T’challa rolled his eyes. “Tony”, he greeted fondly.

The smile faded somewhat, leaving a more somber expression on Tony’s face.

“I wanted to thank you. Personally. For what you did for Rhodey. I mean, we don’t even have your resources although I will not underestimate the mind behind it all…”

T’challa smiled, interrupting Tony’s ramble. “Come. I would like you to meet someone.”

* 

Tony spent ten minutes just gaping at Shuri and her excited rambles – the girl was so over the moon with the possibility to talk to someone who actually got her, who spoke science. T’challa knew his sister could be a little overwhelming, especially for an outsider and he watched Tony gape like a fish out of water.

Until he turned around determinedly.

“I demand an audience with the queen mother.”

T’Challa frowned but before he could ask any further questions an authoritative voice announced the presence of the queen herself.

“Mr. Stark.”

Tony turned around again. “Yeah, that’s me. Are you the queen? You must be the queen. You look an awful lot like your mother, Kitty-Cat. Which is a good thing. I mean, no offence, your father was a great politician but where looks are…”

“Tony”, T’Challa sighed, rolling his eyes at the skies, praying for strength.

“Right, back to the point…”

“Oh? Was there any?”

“Go scratch a tree, your mother and I need to talk business. Now, Your Majesty, you have two kids, right? I have none. I wish to adopt one of yours. The younger. No offence to your son, you raised a fine kitty and all but I want the brains in the family. So. Shuri. Adoption. Into Stark Industries.”

He had the gall to throw an arm around the queen’s shoulders and gently lead her out the room, presumably to start the negotiations. T’challa watched in something between amusement, horror and embarrassment as his mother looked back at him over her shoulder with a meaningfully raised eyebrow.

* 

Tony stayed. He seemed to have put his life in the states on hold and was now separating his time between doing science with Shuri and spending time with T’challa. The king wasn’t even surprised that he found himself enjoying those moments.

“Shuri tells me there’s a way to help Rhodey walk on his own again, without any support. She said you’d done it once for agent Ross.”

They were out, catching the last rays of the setting sun. It used to be his and Nakia’s place but not anymore.

“Mhm”, T’challa nodded, too content to speak up more.

“What happened with Nakia?”, Tony asked softly, suddenly changing the topic as if he’d read T’challa’s mind.

The king shrugged, not even asking how Tony knew about his ex; his sister had a big mouth. “Our paths separated. She has the world to save. Who am I to hold her back?”

His smile was forced in a way Tony knew all too well.

“What happened with Pepper?”, T’challa asked back.

“She finally got tired of me, I guess. Permanently. I mean, we’ve had our ups and downs but this feels… final.”

“Her loss”, the king bumped Tony’s leg, trying to lighten the mood. The genius snorted.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I’m not easy to love, Furball.”

Ignoring the yet another nickname, T’challa stood up to leave. But not before a final cryptic comment.

“Those who are hard to love are usually the most worthy of it.”

He didn’t pause to see Tony’s stunned face, or his disbelief.

* 

“So, where did you get the vibranium from?”, Shuri asked while her and Tony were fiddling with yet another something T’challa didn’t truly understand and the king was forced to stay back, lingering nearby in her workshop.

“Hm? Synthesized it myself. It’s home-made”, Tony winked.

She blinked a few times. “That is not possible.”

He waved her off. “Yeah, yeah. So they all said. Yet here I am and you did not happen to lose any of your precious vibranium around the time I faced death, so…”

Another slow, stunned blink. Then she spun around facing her brother.

“Can we keep him?!”

T’challa sighed, rubbing his aching temple. “Not you too….”

* 

Tony Stark was not the most tactful person. Or generally aware of common manners and respecting people’s space and their boundaries. Like the spoilt brat that he sometimes still was, he insisted on his own private space being respected, but totally disregarded other people’s right of personal time.

That’s how he burst, uninvited, into the king’s private chambers. Right as the king was stepping out of the bathroom. Naked.

“So, I wanted to talk about Rh-… Whoa!”

Logically, Tony knew T’challa must be working out to keep himself and the Black Panther in good shape, but _damn_. He was just Tony’s type of strong and ripped but not overly so. That body was a product of exercise and a healthy diet, not hours in the gym or steroids resulting in muscles that were just overly big and fake. T’challa was just naturally toned in a way that screamed strength and authority and _awareness_ of it and what came with it.

Tony’s eyes followed the tiny droplets down those wide shoulders and biceps. He felt his mouth watering. He could work with that. _No, damn it, he’s just a kid, you will not work with… those… fine abdominal muscles…_

And lower. Because, no towel. Of course.

“Oh. Huh. So, you _are_ a **big** cat, huh.” 

He winced, wishing the ground would open up and swallow him. Smooth, Tones, real smooth.

Okay, so not his best line. Moving on.

“Uh. Are there no towels in Wakanda?”, he muttered, finally turning his back on the naked wet dream.

“I did not expect guests”, T’challa shot back with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Right”, Tony shook his head to clear it from bad thoughts. “Right. I’ll, uh. Let you dress. And talk to you later.”

He hurried for the door, blushing like he didn’t remember himself ever blushing before.

* 

“So, last day in Wakanda, I hear”, Shuri said out of the blue.

Tony frowned. “How did you…?”

“Hacked into your schedule for tomorrow, saw you had a meeting at noon at SI.”

Seemed he was not the only one without a sense of personal space.

“Yeah. I admit I’m gonna miss my time here”, he confided.

She smirked knowingly. “Miss your time here? Or someone in particular?”

He frowned at her. She rolled her eyes. “Come on. I’ve seen the way you look at him. Just…”

And there was something raw and vulnerable in her eyes. It was the first time he saw her as an actual fourteen year old instead of an equal.

“Don’t hurt him, okay? He’s been through enough already.”

Tony didn’t really have some witty reply to that. He just nodded dumbly.

* 

It was Okaye who was appointed to see him out as the king was too busy running a country. Tony tried to squash down his disappointment as he was walking towards the landing site.

“Mr. Stark.”

He turned around wordlessly, braced for yet another shovel talk. Okaye’s big brown eyes were deadly serious.

“I have been with this family since I was born. I was raised protecting them, facing every threat and gathering any intel I could concerning the ones they communicated with. That includes you. So I feel entitled to warn you. The king doesn’t do casual.”

Tony nodded slowly, feigning being impressed.

“Includes me as a threat? Or just someone you researched?”, he mused.

She smiled mysteriously.

“That depends on you.”

* 

T’challa sighed as he stepped into Shuri’s workshop, sent by their mother to fetch his sister for diner. He sometimes forgot that she was still a teenager, acting like a brat her age should: munching on junk food and soda in front of the TV, in the rare times she took a break from inventing and improving.

“Shuri”, he began in his best king/older brother voice. “Mother expects us for…”

_“…and Iron Man, who was spotted on the scene as a part of the rescue team. Meanwhile, Tony Stark has refused any…”_

On screen, the helmet was pulled back and Tony was talking to a cop, gesticulating between the debris of a fallen building and a group of children he had obviously just pulled out of.

He hadn’t realized he was staring at the TV. But he did notice the absence of the crunching sound of popcorn. He turned to face his sister, frowning a little as he saw her gaping at him with wide eyes.

“What?”

“You _froze_!”

His frown smoothed. “No. Shuri, no…!”

 _“Oh my God!_ ”, she squealed.

He sighed.

* 

Tony bit into his hot dog savagely in a way that showed he had forgotten to eat properly… in the last few days. Again.

“Not that I’m complaining but what brought this on?”

T’challa watched him, impressed. He blinked, shook his head as if to clear the daze and then carefully took a bite of his own hot dog.

“I just wanted to spend some time with you”, he responded.

Tony frowned. “Is there some job you need me for? I doubt Shuri needs me for a consultation…”

“Tony. I wanted to spend time with you. Not the Black Panther, not the king of Wakanda, not Shuri’s brother.”

“…Oh.”

Tony looked perplexed, as if he just couldn’t grasp the concept of someone wanting to be around him without using him for something. T’challa gritted his teeth, suddenly angry at everyone who’d ever been in Tony’s life and left such an impression. He pushed back his darker thoughts and forced a smile for the genius.

“That and I have to make sure you eat occasionally.”

“I’ll have you know I have the perfect weight for my height”, Tony argued.

 _Yes, you have the perfect everything_ , T’challa caught himself thinking. He cleared his throat and grinned teasingly.

“Which is not that much”, he noted.

Tony’s eyes narrowed. “Not my fault everyone around me is either pumped with steroids or went through an intense, often military training or has just grown too much!”

T’challa smiled fondly. Tony was cute when he was flustered.

* 

Tony found himself bobbing his head with the rhythm as he listened to the music. It was a strange mix of native African songs and modern sound. He found himself oddly captivated.

“I like it”, he said, probably a bit too loud judging by T’challa’s wince and his smile. Tony pulled the headphones off. “It’s a bit weird but I like it”, he said, now more quietly.

The king nodded, looking smug.

“I’m glad.”

* 

“What’s that?”, Tony asked suspiciously, inspecting the things T’challa had offered to him. They looked like big red beans.

“It’s called miracle fruit. Just give it a chance”, the king said.

Tony threw a bean into his mouth, immediately making a face at the sour taste.

“Just keep chewing”, T’challa smiled.

The taste got sweeter with every next grind. Tony blinked, surprised. T’challa’s smile turned softer.

“It reminds me of you. Sour at the beginning but sweeter the more you unravel.”

Tony swallowed dryly, frowning a bit.

“Are you… I mean I must be reading this wrong because you cannot possibly be…?”

“Wooing you.”

Tony snorted, first at the odd wording and then at the idea. T’challa’s face remained serious. Tony swallowed again.

“Okay. Okay, we can… I mean it’s a bad idea and it will inevitably turn into a disaster but if you’re so set on this we can have a taste of this, just to relieve the tension…”

T’challa’s face, which had been getting darker and darker with Tony’s every word, was set into a grim frown now.

“Tony. I do not want a one off. I want to pursue a relationship with you.”

“Then this is an even worse idea. You’re just a kid and I’m so much older than you and a man and I have my baggage and it’s a big, huge baggage no one else should have to deal with, and I’ll always be an outsider to your family and your country as a whole…”

“This is one of the main things I fell for”, T’challa said with a fond smile.

Tony frowned, opening his mouth to ask but the king spoke again.

“You built an image of an egocentric jerk. Yet of all the reasons you listed not one was an inconvenience for you. Just for me.”

He stepped closer.

“I’m ready to face all that, Tony. With you.”

“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into”, Tony shook his head.

“All I want in a chance”, T’challa insisted.

“Why?”, Tony asked quietly.

And T’challa could have listed all of his good qualities. All the small things he had come to love about Tony. Yet, in the end all that it came down to was,

“Do you know how rare it is these days?! To find someone who leaves you tongue-tied! Who makes you feel defenseless even in the best armor! Who makes all the vibranium in the word feel like a soft butter with just a single smile! I will not give up this chance because it will not be easy!”

Tony blinked a few times, for once at a loss of words. For a second at least. Then,

“Romantic declarations don’t do it for me”, he said, voice deceptively calm.

“What does?”, T’challa asked.

“The passion behind them”, Tony pointed.

And then he leaned for a kiss.

* 

Tony squinted behind his designer sunglasses, dark enough to disguise him somewhat. This wasn’t how he did things. To be fair, there was not much doing things (or people) lately. Once, he used to be a player. He knew how to pick up any chick, go have some fun in a hotel room and be done with it. He still knew how, he supposed. He just didn’t. Not since Afghanistan.

Point was, he wasn’t much for going out with someone. At all. Much less to an amusement park. What for? To shoot something for a stuffed animal? Get high on cotton candy? Steal a kiss on top of the Ferris wheel like every corny date advice said? He wasn’t 12 anymore!

Wait. Was that a date?

Yet, as he watched T’challa carefully balance an absurd purple unicorn Tony had won him just for the laugh while the king was stuffing his face with pink cotton candy, the genius couldn’t bring himself to regret any of it.

“Yo. Catniss.”

T’challa turned around with narrowed eyes. Tony grinned.

“Wanna try the Ferris wheel?”

* 

T’challa supposed going out for a ride with someone who’d never even touched a horse before was somewhat… but just a tiny bit, dangerous.

“Shit, shit, uh, mayday, I’m gonna fall!”, Tony flailed.

T’challa laughed, a full belly laugh as he watched the genius precariously perched on top of the horse. His own stance on his stallion was impeccably right and proud.

“You are not going to fall. If you do, I will catch you”, he assured.

“That’s very sweet and all but if I hit my head and the world loses one of the greatest minds of this age all the guilt would be on you!”

T’challa rolled his eyes. “You are not going to fall, big brain.”

“Oooh, pet-names, gotta love ‘em.”

T’challa shook his head.

“Race me to the palace?”, he offered.

“Race you!? I barely even remain on the horse!”, Tony yelled.

“There will be a prize if you catch me”, T’challa winked, turning his back on Tony and bolting for the palace.

“Oh, for Einstein’s sake!”, he heard the genius whine behind him.

* 

Tony hadn’t gotten an e-mail from the Dork King in a while. Until that morning when a photo of Wakandian Daily’s front page was waiting for him as he opened his mail in the morning. The image showed him and T’challa riding together (Tony looked just as ridiculous as he had felt) and then there was another smaller photo of them kissing on that Ferris wheel.

Damn paparazzi. They were fucking everywhere. Including Wakanda, obviously.

His phone rang just in time.

“Damage control, talk to me. How bad is it?”, he rambled before taking a long sip from his coffee mug.

“Won’t gonna lie to you, man. There are some who dig you and some who don’t”, Shuri admitted.

“Figures.”

“Not because you’re a man or even older. It may surprise you but that’s not such an issue here as being an American. Now that… well, there are always gonna be people against that.”

Tony sighed. He had known as much he guessed.

“Hey”, Shuri called. “Sorry about dragging you into our spotlight mess but… I hope it's worth it.”

Tony snorted. “I’ve always been in the spotlight, princess. And that, now, is most certainly worth it so far.”

* 

Surprisingly, the queen wasn’t against it. Tony had expected far more resistance on her part but she turned out to be just mildly exasperated with Tony. In a strangely fond way. Like a mother shook her head at her child’s choice of a spastic partner. At first Tony was under the impression that she reacted so because she was sure that this was just a fling. But it turned out to be quite the opposite. And it was made known with just a few well-chosen words.

“I have already decided that you are good for him, if unexpectedly so. But I do expect you to respect my son, Mr. Stark. Now and in the long run.”

“In the long run?”, Tony checked.

An elegant eyebrow was lifted challengingly.

“Are you not serious about him?”, she asked with just a hint of a sharp edge in her voice.

In this moment she wasn’t the dignified queen mother. She was a panther, ready to defend her cub.

“I am, ma’am”, Tony assured quickly, a little surprised at how true that actually was.

“Good”, she nodded.

“And…”, Tony trailed.

“Yes?”, she pushed gently.

“I’m just surprised you’re so okay with this. I mean, I was under the impression that it was so because you didn’t expect it to last, but now I know that you do and it just…   
doesn’t make sense”, Tony finished quietly.

“What doesn’t?”

“Well… don’t you expect an heir out of him?”

She smiled a little condescendingly. “I believe you are aware that we are evolved enough to make that happen when the time comes.”

Tony nodded dumbly. She smiled again, shaking her head.

“Have a good day, Mr. Stark”, she said, making a move to leave.

“Tony.”

She looked over her shoulder.

“Since I’m serious about your son”, he added with a small smirk.

She smirked back.

“Tony”, she nodded, before leaving the room regally.

* 

Shuri watched as her brother did push-ups in the middle of his living room, unaware of her presence. There was a reason he hadn’t heard her coming in and it was literally deafening. She had heard that band before, at quite the same volume in a dim workshop that wasn’t hers.

AC/DC. Shuri shook her head fondly and left her brother to be Thunderstruck.

* 

“Tony, for the last time, I’m not even making you attend, I just need you sig-…”

Pepper stopped mid-word as a strong hand gripped her arm, making her look up at Rhodey, confused. He was wide-eyed and looked absolutely shocked. She followed his gaze and gaped.

“Is he…?”

“Shh. You’ll scare him”, Rhodey hissed.

A few feet away from them Tony was eating a salad while flicking distractedly on his tablet. The cup next to him was full of tea.

Rhodey pulled out his phone and took a picture.

* 

Tony was pissed off. He kept pacing the small room, the wakandian equivalent of ICU. T’challa was propped up on a few pillows, exhausted after his surgery but still wary of Tony’s mood.

“You could have died. There are things even Shuri cannot repair. You are not invincible. You are not immortal!”

“Neither are you!”, T’challa raised his voice in a rare pique of ire. “Yet I do not see you giving up on Iron Man, nor I demand that!”

Tony thought about it. What was the hardest thing he’d had to endure so far because of Iron Man? Stane’s betrayal stabbing him in his back? Palladium poisoning? Floating in space and nearly dying with the fall? Extremis? Watching Pepper in pain, burning from the inside? Watching her fall… Watching people die – Yinsen and then Phil and then Maya. Steve walking away…

“You’re just a kid. You’ve lost someone and I’m sorry for that. But that’s just one loss. Don’t wait till you experience more.”

With that he spun around and left.

* 

And then Thanos happened.

And it was all chaos and pain and fear. That same nightmare he had seen when Wanda had fucked with his head a lifetime ago: all of them dead. All the people he cared about even if they didn’t care about him.

 _Please let them live. Take me if you have to but please let them live_ , Tony prayed quietly as he pushed and pushed himself onward.

But he couldn’t die. Not when he hadn’t found peace with T’challa. Not after how they parted the last time. Not after…

_Please, please…_

_“Tonyyyyy!!!!”_

_*_

_Tony opened his eyes. He was somewhere in Wakanda and the sun was setting. It was beautiful in an unreal way that made Tony shiver._

_“Am I dead then?”, he wondered._

_“No. Not permanently at least.”_

_He turned around. T’challa smiled at him. Tony’s eyes opened wide._

_“Wait, are you?!”_

_Now, that worried Tony way more._

_The king shook his head._

_“I have consciously and temporarily retreated from body in order to find you here.”_

_“Am I lost?”, Tony wondered._

_“Quite the opposite”, T’challa answered with a serene smile. “Since you are here that means you have found your way home. To me.”_

_“Where is here?”_

_“This is where my ancestors live”, T’challa nodded to the nearby tree where a few big cats were lazing on the branches, staring at them. “This is where I will retreat one day too. But not yet. Right now I need you come back, Tony. Into the world we both know.”_

_“Okay…”_

*   
Tony opened his eyes.

He was half sprawled on the grass just out of Birnin Zana, half resting against a firm chest. T’challa was humming quietly as if lulling him to sleep. But Tony had slept enough.  
It had been two weeks since the battle with Thanos. Even with Shuri’s help and Wakanda’s advanced healing technology they couldn’t save everyone. But they did more that they could have without the last two factors.

Tony looked up at T’challa’s handsome face, his expression dreamy and his eyes gazing into the horizon. He was glad that he was alive.

* 

They tumbled into the room, tripping into their own feet and tugging on each other’s clothes. They could barely see where they were going since T’challa’s vast bedroom was illuminated only by the moon.

Tony panted, feeling like he still had a heart condition as the king’s lips attacked his neck, leaving viciously possessive hickeys. T’challa backed him into a wall, pressing himself firmly against the genius. Tony moaned then his lips stretched into a smile and he whispered in his lover’s ear,

“My, Big Cat, is that vibranium in your pants?”

T’challa huffed, a sound that was something between a laugh and annoyance, but he still pulled back somewhat. That was not Tony’s intention. He frowned into the darkness, wishing he could see the other man’s expressive eyes. He gulped dryly. It was obvious and should have been a given but he still felt like he had to say it.

“You’re still hesitant. If you don’t want to…”

“I want to!”, T’challa quickly clarified, voice deep and passionate.

“Then?”, Tony asked softly.

“You have more experience”, T’challa admitted with barely a hint of petulance.

Tony shook his head slowly, looking away. “Not with this.”

The king frowned. Tony sighed, knowing he’d set himself up.

“I’ve fallen in love three times.”

T’challa didn’t correct the statement by citing Tony’s many flings; he knew the difference. He didn’t express shock or disbelief. He didn’t ask. He just waited patiently. Tony swallowed, looking at his feet.

“Once, she dumped my ass after many tries and so much patience on her side.”

Pepper.

“Then, he chose another side and another friend.”

Steve.

Tony clenched his jaw. “So, as you can see, I don’t have the best record. I don’t know if I can, or should…”

“Tony.”

T’challa’s voice was soft and sweet. Tony finally looked up.

“Tell me about the third time.”

Tony huffed a laugh. “An African kid. Royalty. Way out of my league.”

T’challa smiled warmly.

“Well, they say third time is the charm, right? Maybe you should take that risk.”

He leaned closer, kissing Tony gently before whispering,

“Maybe we both should.”

* 

T’challa hummed some vaguely familiar tune as he made breakfast and coffee. The tray was waiting on the counter. Tony had bemoaned that he was too tired and “fucked out” to make his own food. Then he shooed off the king and even threw a pillow at him as a payback for an innocent jab T’challa had thrown before quickly escaping the flying object.

“Well, someone’s unusually chirpy this morning”, Shuri noted, entering the kitchen.

“I am not anything unusual”, T’challa shot back without any bite.

“Brother, trust me, I know you and you haven’t been this dopey since…”, she gasped. He winced.

“No, just…!”

 _“Oh my God!”_ , she squealed.

He sighed.

* 

Of course then he’d had to sit through an awkward breakfast with their mother, praying that his sister would shut her mouth for once.

“I am glad to see you are in good spirits today”, the queen said.

“Brother’s gotten laid!”, Shuri informed.

Because of course she did.

T’challa sighed.

* 

By the time he reached the bedroom with Tony’s food he was exhausted all over again and just wanted to curl up next to Tony and sleep until Shuri forgot that morning.

Knowing her though there would be no such luck.

“Prepare for teasing and innuendos as soon as you crawl out of here”, he warned, depositing the tray in Tony’s lap and then curling up next to him.

“Hmm?”, Tony yawned. “Did you slip and spill?”

“She figured it out on her own. She’s too smart for this world”, T’challa whined sleepily.

Tony chuckled. “Ah, I love that kid.”

“L’v ‘er m’r th’n me”, the king of Wakanda muttered petulantly from around his chest where he had curled up like… well, like a cat.

“True that”, Tony said, just to tease his lover a bit more. “If she were any older, I’d have chosen her first.”

The bite he got near his left nipple wasn’t exactly playful. Nor was the growl.

“But you did”, T’challa noted, suddenly less sleepy. “You chose her first. You liked her more than you liked me, in the beginning.”

“The important thing is who I like best at the end”, Tony argued, already having an idea.

*   
“Your Majesty, I have come to bargain.”

He winced a little at how that had turned out. Strange was rubbing off on him.

But, to the point.

“I want your blessing to uh, marry your son. Yep. With the big complicated rituals and all.”

The queen raised a fine eyebrow, smirking. “Oh, so you could have both of them, hmm? One as a husband and the other as sister-in-law?”

Tony’s face lit up with a mad grin. “Exactly!”

FIN.


End file.
